Christmas in June.

I finally broke down and bought myself a new toy. Actually, I bought it for the shop. We've been making waffle cones during the summer since the beginning, but I must confess we've been using a smaller, somewhat disposable, waffle baker, one much better suited to the occasional home ice cream party than a full-scale ice cream shop scenario. I actually bought a 'real' waffle cone baker when I started, but the first time we made a cone with it, we discovered it had a giant TCBY logo etched into the waffle plate. And I thought customers might get confused when the saw a big TCBY logo on their homemade waffle cone in a place called Mt. Tom's. I returned that one and we've been using an amateur version ever since. Until yesterday, that is.

Let me introduce to you, the Gold Medal 5020 Giant Waffle Baker...

Ain't she sweet?

It felt like Christmas morning when Steve, the UPS guy, showed up with the new rig. I couldn't make cones the first day, since she had to be seasoned first. It was like when I got that slick new Johnny Lightning Racecar track for Christmas when I was six, setting it up in the living room, but not getting to use it until December 26th. Most of the first batch of cones I made on her maiden voyage the next day ended up as snacks for me and the crew, but eventually I got the hang of it and was blasting out giant odorific and delicious waffle cones every 47 seconds until the racks were overflowing with crispy goodness.

Here's Katie on her first run, demonstrating the fine art of waffle cone creation. Look at her go.

This is the tricky part. Rolling them up. Takes a little practice and a few singed fingertips, but once you get the hang of it, piece of cake. Or, piece of waffle cone, as it were.

Voila! Waffle cones for everyone. Like my Dad always says, every job is easy with the right tools.

That solitary sugar cone in the other stand looks so sad and dejected in this shot. Poor little sugar cone.

And what's a freshly baked waffle cone without a hearty scoop of homemade ice cream in it, and perhaps a little hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry...

See you soon...